Charging on

When Jake Coffey's blue tick beagle, Raven, died unexpectedly the day before the 2014 World Hunt near Boonville, Ind., a fellow hunter stepped-up and gave him one of his promising young dogs, Charger.

Charger, 2, son of Hall-of-Famer Murphy's Dreaming Demon, gets used to his new surroundings after he was given to Jake Coffey of Potosi, Mo., on the first day check-in at the 2014 World Hunt at Thresherman Park in Southern Indiana. Coffey's dog, Raven, died the day before the hunt while chasing rabbits.

Jake Coffey's first trip to the World Hunt, the largest rabbit hunting competition in the world, was nearly finished before it started when his dog, Raven, a blue tick beagle, suddenly died during a training session the day before. A fellow beagle enthusiast, Bryan Murphy of Bagdad, Ky., came to the rescue with his Triple X Kennels partners and gifted the 19-year-old with a dog... Charger.

Charger is given lots of fresh water and treats by his new owner, Jake Coffey. The beagle had just finished winning its cast and couldn't wait for his new owner to finish pouring before he started nibbling the meat-flavored treats.

The afternoon rounds of the World Hunt were postponed until Friday morning after the area received more than six inches of rain during a 30-hour time span. Jake Coffey shed his hunting chaps and took the afternoon off.

Charger gets a lift from Jake Coffey into a dog box for transport to the spot on the reclaimed coal mine land where he would compete in his cast with four other dogs.

The terrain offered dog handler Jake Coffey a challenge as he tried to keep up with his rabbit-hunting dog, Charger.

Charger, on the trail of a zig-zagging rabbit, can be seen momentarily before disappearing into the thick brush and cover of the hunt area.

Jake Coffey takes off at a run after Charger started his own unique bark to signal him he was on the trail of another rabbit.

Jake Coffey carries Charger to his ride after he ran in the second round of the Open category of the 2014 World Hunt. Charger and another dog split from the other three dogs to chase a different rabbit with two minutes to go in the one-hour hunt. Coffey was expecting the worst since the judges decided to follow the pack of three dogs, thus negating any points his dog would have received in those final minutes. Luckily for Charger, the judges still scored him higher than the others and, he advanced to the next day's round of 11 dogs.

After finishing his last cast of the World Hunt Sunday morning, Charger and Jake Coffey wait to find out how he finished. Minutes before that, Coffey spoiled his hard-working pooch with a Polish sausage biscuit sandwich. He even threw in a pepperoni slice from his pizza for the food-motivated dog.

DENNY SIMMONS / COURIER & PRESS

Jake Coffey's aunt and uncle, Laura Wells, right, and Chris Wells, second right, were instrumental in both getting Coffey his start in rabbit hunting and keeping his spirits up when his dog, Raven, died earlier in the week. They ordered a stone for his grave and helped bury the blue tick beagle between two trees at the top of a small hill. Next year they plan on setting the stone as well as installing a metal cross at the spot.

Jake Coffey is all smiles as he is congratulated for finishing in 8th-place in the 2014 World Hunt Open category with his dog, Charger. A total of 276 dogs competed in the Open category and this was Coffey's first time to the hunt.